The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 197 Uncles

Suddenly a gust of wind blew in, and the light of the oil lamp swayed with the wind, flickering.

Li Shimin sat in the Secretariat, listening to the conversation between the old man and the young, and didn't know what to say.

If we go on, I'm afraid my uncle will talk about the design of the mausoleum.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "I heard that you have been repairing the East Palace these days. Is it finished now?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "It's quite troublesome to rebuild a house. I often read some books from the Ministry of Works and discuss with my brothers and sisters."

"Do you still want to discuss this with them?"

"Ah."

"It's getting late, I'll send my uncle back early."

Gao Shilian smiled at his eldest grandson again and said kindly, "When you have free time, Your Highness can come visit me."

Li Chengqian also stood up and said, "Grandson will come when he is free."

"Your Majesty, there's no need to see me off. Gao Lin will be waiting outside."

Gao Shilian said this with a smile and walked away with fairly steady steps.

The father and son stood outside the gate of the Secretariat to see the old man off.

As he watched the man walk away, Li Shimin asked, "If you have any questions, you can ask him more often."

Li Chengqian closed the door of the Secretariat and said, "My uncle has taught me a lot."

"Does Mr. Wen have anything else to say about the Eastern Expedition?"

"I have seldom been to Chongwenguan recently." Li Chengqian said solemnly, "Father, what do you think should be done with this old man?"

Li Shimin looked at his son and said, "I originally thought it would be a good idea for him to retire in Chongwenguan. It was Xuanling who recommended him to me."

The father and son walked down the steps, one in front of the other, occasionally side by side.

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and said, "Teacher's intentions are good."

"Of course I know." Li Shimin slowed down his pace and whispered, "But now I have thought about it again. If you trust this old gentleman very much, and he is worried about the Eastern Expedition, it will affect you."

"Your Majesty, you worry too much. I am busy with the affairs in Guanzhong and am exhausted."

Li Shimin said: "Your uncle said that your concentration and mental strength are very strong."

"Really?" Li Chengqian was a little surprised and said, "So uncle praises me like this behind my back."

Li Shimin snorted coldly: "You have to know that some people will speak well of you, and some people will hate you."

Having said this, I feel a little conflicted. What bothers me is that there are good and bad people in this world.

Li Chengqian said, "Let Mr. Wen rest in Chongwen Hall and put the Eastern Expedition aside for now. What do you think, Father?"

In the setting sun, the backs of the father and son were stretched out.

The two eunuchs followed the emperor and the prince, walking with their heads lowered.

Li Shimin put one hand behind his back and stroked his beard with the other hand, saying: "I have thought about the Eastern Expedition. How many soldiers from the Central Plains went to the Eastern Expedition? How many soldiers were buried in Liaodong? These bones have not been recovered yet."

Li Chengqian agreed with this and said, "We can put the Eastern Expedition aside for now, but it must be done. Our Li family is an imperial family. Emperor Yang of Sui's Eastern Expedition caused the people to be divided. Many families who lost their loved ones in the Eastern Expedition are still alive."

"Assuming the Eastern Expedition goes smoothly and these remains are brought back, our Li family will be able to gain more support from the people. I think this is related to the emperor's credibility."

The emperor and the crown prince discussed the necessity of governing the country and waging foreign wars, as well as the pros and cons.

Li Shimin stopped in front of the gate of the East Palace.

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and stopped where he was.

Both father and son had the same worried look on their faces. There were so many major events in the world, and one had to rule over thousands or even millions of people, so naturally one had to think carefully about everything.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Mr. Wen is a stubborn person. He may be too old to think so thoroughly. The Eastern Expedition is never a simple sentence, nor is it that I can order thousands of troops to rush to Liaodong. There are no years of preparation here, so we can't act lightly."

"Cheng Qian, you are the crown prince, you should understand the pros and cons. If you want to march east, you must first control the Turks and pacify Mobei before you can march east. Otherwise, once the cavalry from Mobei breaks into the rear, the battle situation will become more complicated."

Li Chengqian smelled the aroma of food in the East Palace and asked, "So, the Eastern Expedition was not simply a single war, but actually two major wars and a three-party dispute."

Li Shimin nodded.

In fact, this is easy to understand. Before the Eastern Expedition, the wilderness needs to be razed to the ground. If a third-party force harasses along the way, it will be a huge burden on the army.

It tests national strength and even more so the ability to govern.

It’s not that my father is without troops now, but that the country is still unstable.

The Turks are now obedient, but Ashina She'er attacks Mobei out of personal grudge.

Although this war should not have happened, it also paved the way for the Tang Dynasty. Mobei is now indeed powerful.

And we also need to consider the two wars, which would have made the cost even greater. The consumption of food, fodder, and troops in the two wars would not be a small number.

Today, the Li family is still not well-off and they are short of money.

Seeing that his father was walking towards the Lizheng Hall, he didn't want to explain any more.

Li Chengqian asked loudly, "Aren't you having dinner at the East Palace today?"

The emperor did not reply.

I don't know when my sister stood aside. Li Chengqian walked over and explained, "Father probably has something else to deal with. Let's eat by ourselves."

"Yes." Li Lizhi followed and asked, "Brother, the Queen Mother said that there will be a banquet tomorrow."

"My father has said that I should go there."

“My brothers and sisters don’t want to go.”

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's okay, you all stay in the East Palace, and my brother can go alone."

Only then did Li Lizhi smile again.

The next day, the emperor was going to hold a banquet in Qujiang. Li Chengqian woke up early and after morning exercises, his mother had someone send him new clothes.

The younger brothers and sisters each got a new dress, but they did not go to Qujiang Lake for the banquet.

Li Chengqian asked Ning'er to help him put on his coat, which was a black round-necked robe decorated with some light blue patterns.

Ning'er helped His Highness tighten his belt, looked at him and said, "As expected, the black robe is more suitable for the prince."

Li Chengqian looked at himself in the bronze mirror and said, "Wearing this black outfit, I look even more like a no-entry person."

Ning Er suddenly smiled, but quickly suppressed her smile. She hung the jade pendant around His Highness' waist, and then put a cake prepared by Xiaofu into His Highness' arms, saying, "This was arranged by Xiaofu. She was worried that Your Highness would be hungry."

We have become accustomed to Xiaofu's arrangement. The princes and princesses of the Eastern Palace need to bring their own dry food when they go out.

Li Chengqian walked to the front hall of the East Palace. Li Lizhi was taking her younger brother and sister for morning exercise and jogging. He reminded Ning'er, "Remember to let them take the exam today. I will mark the exam myself when I come back."

"Here."

After saying this, Li Chengqian walked out of the door and left the East Palace with his grandfather and headed for Qujiang Lake.

The grandfather and grandson were riding in a carriage. As the carriage passed by, they could hear the lively hawking on the street, which was near the direction of Chunming Gate, which was the east gate of Chang'an City. Seeing his grandson flipping through the book, Li Yuan walked up to take a look and said, "This is..."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I originally wanted to read military books, but the military books of past dynasties are not just theoretical descriptions, they also require practical experience. And the experience is related to both celestial phenomena and terrain. I have no experience, so I can only look for some clues from the records of previous years."

Li Yuan sat aside with a smile. This grandson was a studious person. Not only was he studious, but he was also always focused and attentive in his work.

The carriage slowly stopped, and Li Yuan was the first to get out of the carriage. What caught his eye was the riverbanks on both sides of Qujiang Lake, where there were many relatives.

Everyone looked over and saluted.

The carriage stayed there for a long time. After Li Yuan walked for a while, Li Chengqian got out of the carriage.

Because many people's eyes were on the old man of the Li family, not many people paid attention to Li Chengqian when he got off the carriage.

He handed the scroll in his hand to Li Ji and said, "General, please take care of it."

Li Ji replied: "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will be waiting here."

When Li Chengqian walked into Qujiang Lake, two eunuchs from the palace followed him naturally, and two guards with swords followed on both sides to protect the safety of the prince.

In fact, the Li family has many relatives, including cousins ​​and other princes, as well as grandfather's other sons, such as Prince Xu Li Yuanjia, Prince Zheng Li Yuanli, Prince Peng Li Yuanze...

Li Chengqian didn't know any of these people.

In addition to the various princes, there were also members of the royal family and princesses who married out.

From kings and dukes in various places to even smaller county ladies.

Everyone who could come came.

"Royal brother." Li Tai stepped forward and said, "Father and mother have been waiting for a long time."

Li Chengqian looked at the eyes of the crowd. Many people were already looking here and whispering, looking around.

Actually, you don’t need to think too much, just look at this face.

And since he could make Li Tai follow behind him, his identity could naturally be seen. This young man was the current crown prince.

Thinking of what happened to Li Yuanchang and Princess Changguang, the relatives present were actually still somewhat distant from this prince, who was not very close to them, and no one dared to look at him for too long.

There were many relatives and guests present in the water pavilion of Qujiang Lake.

Moreover, some of these people are about the same age as his father, some are about the same age as himself and Li Tai, and among them are several younger uncles.

Li Tai whispered, "My uncles, please sit with my father. My brother and Qingque can sit in the waterside pavilion at the back."

Li Chengqian nodded to indicate that he understood, and walked calmly in front of his father and mother amidst the stares and scrutiny.

Seeing his mother nod, Li Chengqian turned to face the crowd and said loudly: "I learned that you uncles are coming. Chengqian was not polite. I hope you uncles will not be offended."

Everyone smiled, picked up their wine bowls, and bowed.

Everyone drank the wine in their bowls in one gulp.

As the head of the Li family, that is, the imperial family, no one would say that Li Chengqian, as the crown prince, was impolite for not taking the wine bowl.

Besides, it has long been rumored that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace never drinks alcohol.

Then, Li Chengqian and Li Tai walked to the other end of the water pavilion, where there were plank roads connecting the pavilions.

It's winter and the sky is gloomy. It looks like it's going to snow again today.

Because the weather was briefly warm and sunny the past two days, today is particularly cold.

The people at this table are all young people, and they all look about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Li Chengqian and Li Tai walked into the waterside pavilion and sat down. Everyone raised their glasses and saluted, saying, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"No need to be so polite." Li Chengqian's calm words made everyone freeze in place.

Everyone had already stood up to salute, but after the prince said this, they were halfway through the salute, bowing their bodies, not knowing whether to stand up or sit down.

"sit down."

After hearing His Highness say this again, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The group of young people in front of me are all of my peers, and most of them are my uncles' children.

Li Chengqian looked back and saw his mother walking with several other women. They seemed to be talking, and sometimes some of them looked at him.

I had no choice but to look away. They and my mother must be discussing the marriage in the Eastern Palace again.

However, the matter had not yet been finalized, and the Queen Mother had been very careful and thoughtful in her conversations with the relatives.

They could not get any words out of their mother's mouth.

Only the Queen Mother accompanied Grandpa and allowed him to see his daughters.

Li Tai whispered, "Grandpa is old, and I want to prepare a walking stick for him."

Li Chengqian said: "Don't worry, Grandpa doesn't need it yet."

"It will be needed sooner or later. My brother has asked someone to find the best purple wood."

It was all out of filial piety from his younger brother, so as the emperor's elder brother, it was not easy for him to say anything. Facing the crowd, Li Chengqian said, "My younger brother is in Luoyang to control floods, and cannot come to Chang'an to attend the banquet. I would like to honor you all on his behalf."

A group of young men picked up their wine bowls again.

Compared to the relaxation of the uncles, the nephews and nieces all sat upright and straight.

It's not because their family education is so good, but because the prince's speech and behavior are too much like an adult. The fathers of each family have warned that they can offend anyone in the royal family except the prince. So far, no one who offended the prince has a good ending.

Or maybe it was because of an innate aura that suppressed these children. Even the usually lively Prince of Wei, Li Tai, was respectful and silent in front of the Crown Prince.

Among his nephews, only Li Chongyi was a little more relaxed. He came with a man and said, "Your Highness, this is Jing Heng."

There was another woman following behind, this woman had a serious expression and bowed quietly.

Li Daozong's son Li Jingheng introduced: "Your Highness, this is my sister."

Li Chengqian glanced at her and said with a smile, "Take a seat."

Jing Heng bowed and said, "I came down late, and I'm here to apologize."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "We are all brothers, no need to be polite, please sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Place seats on the side."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, the eunuch immediately ordered someone to bring a low table and let Master Chongyi and the Jingheng siblings sit next to the prince.

Li Chengqian noticed the woman next to Jing Heng, who should be said to be his cousin, and this cousin was a little special.

If the generation is correct, she is the woman who was involved in several contests of wits and wars between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty in history books, that is, Princess Wencheng in history.

He looks to be only about eleven or twelve years old, but he is very polite.

(End of this chapter)